don’t allow garlic to flower

And another….from American Potager

I love her photos…and she lo9ves blue as much as I do…:)..

Prune the flowers from garlic so that all of the energy of the plant goes into the bulb and not into flowering. These garlic flowers are great in arrangements or they are edible as well and can go into soups or salads.

blue bamboo poles

I discovered a great garden blog today, thanks to Apartment Therapy.. a wonderful design blog!

This is the post that led me to her blog, what a great idea!

I am often asked about the royal blue bamboo poles that I use in my potager. Don’t be fooled by the photo; spring has not come to my garden…. yet. This was taken a few years ago, but it’s a good reminder to get structures ready now. Here is what I did and maybe it will be helpful for you.

To Read More…

I love spring!

This is my first spring doing any serious gardening and I am in heaven.  The lush flowers outside, my ripening tomatoes and yummy purple basil in my living room…how cool is that?

Purple basil, a purple pepper plant, chives, . 

I’m building more grow buckets right now for tomatoes, peppers and lettuce.  I have two tomato plants growing upside down, they seem pretty happy,..  I will post pics later today..

I hope you had a great Mother’s Day.  My and my daughters danced to Reggae to King Eddie and Pili Pili.

Rooftop gardening

I was on the website fav of mine again this morning- HomeGrownEvolution and found a link they had to a rooftop garden in Chicago.  I got sooo many great ideas here, I hope you feel as inspired by this as I do!

Click here to see all the photos. RoofTiopGrowers

Here’s the pics I was most inspired by;

What a great idea, cover the top to slow evaporation and keep out bugs!

Tomato supports.

Self watering containers are awesome!  And very cheap to build yourself!

Lettuce in hydro set-up.

My water conservation…and conversations…

I was watering the flower bed tonight, now that it has cooled off outside.  This entails carrying the 3 gallon bucket from the bathtub out to the flowerbed about 10 times.  I had a conversation with a young man who told me, “Of course I re-use my grey water, I pay for it!”   Good point, sending it down the drain, even when I have taken my quick 3 minute showers, feels so wasteful.  This way I get to use it as much as possible.

I realize I have stopped lifting weights, with iron dumbbells anyway, since I started gardening. I don’t need them; I haul dirt, shovel compost, use a hand saw for all woodworking (gives blisters, but is great for the back, shoulders and arms!)….  What a natural way to stay in shape.  Along with yoga, and much much dancing…it all works!  I never expected to find such a deep, primal connected-to-the-earth feeling that I have found.  This tiny plot of rented earth is a little system that is growing me much food.  I found much inspiration from a website called HomeGrownRevolution and PathToFreedom.  My goal is to be growing all of my own vegetables by the end of this year. Right now I have sweet potatoes, red potatoes, Swiss chard, broccoli, flowering kale, green leaf lettuce, nasturtiums, 10 tomato plants, cucumbers, 2 year old banana tree, a strawberry plant I get one strawberry a week from (and it is heavenly!), aloe, basil.  Some tomato plants are outside in the square food garden Aloe in foreground, then Swiss chard, broccoli.

I have been seriously gardening since last July.  At that point, I began bringing huge amounts of kitchen scraps home from a health food store deli, where I was a Chef. When I say huge, I mean it; Big black trash bags full of lettuce leaves, 3 gallon buckets of kitchen scraps, ALL ORGANIC!  Twas heaven!  I just threw the bags in the sun for a day or two, then poured the glop into the raised beds, along with organic dirt, some topsoil, perlite, peat moss, compost, coffee grounds.  Then I planted sweet potatoes and peppers.  The sweet potatoes didn’t do well, but when I put then in 1/2 barrels, they took off. 

I built an L shaped raised bed using garden timbers, untreated.

Before going into the compost, I culled seeds, these pepper plants were the first thing to get planted.

Then I installed an outdoor solar shower, a compost bin, two rain barrels.  The wood all came from a friend who has a lawn business, all pallets or fencing I used as is, or taken apart.  Then I put up row covers.  Now it doesn’t require much work on a day to day basis. Except for hauling buckets of water from the rain barrels, and hauling it from inside to water trees and flowers.  Sigh!  I wish my landlord would let me set up a grey water system.  I tried.  Maybe it’s better for me to have to haul it. I am acutely reminded with every drop that I conserve that it is precious. We are all stewards of our earth.  It is inevitable that we all have to conserve.  To take on the challenge to commit to this degree seemed daunting, but I have found so much joy and satisfaction in it.  Isn’t it that way at anything you have to truly work at, develop discipline for? 

The funny thing is that as much as I love digging in the dirt, composting, gardening in general..  I have found that the hydro stuff inside is feeding me the most, it just thrives.  The tomatoes, planted at the same time, are three times as big and already producing inside in the grow box and in the deep water culture set up.  The water farm I turned into a hybrid set up grows my one strawberry plant. I need about three plants to feed me strawberries.   I’m getting one a week now…..

Tomatoes are in the grow box and white bucket, strawberries are in the WaterFarm.

My first tomatoes!!  🙂

Outside;

Sweet Potatoes Red Potatoes

Swiss chard, Blue Bonnets, Cucumbers

Garden Update today!

  I took the row covers off the garden today, planted an upside down tomato plant, hung it from the overhang right outside my kitchen window.  I brought the tomato and cucumber plants inside under the grow lights.

Here’s the tomato plant, just starting to flower.

View from the kitchen window, the flowers are looking great!

The first cucumber flowers!

Flowering kale.

The cherry tomatoes, inside under grow lights.

I know, the dates are wrong on pics….

This little guy moved in a few months ago, I finally gave up trying to catch him…just hopes he stays in the sunroom…haha!

My Garden update

I know, it’s been forever, seems like, since I posted…and especially since my garden is bustin’ out…  I LOVE SPRING!!!

Here is my brand new strawberry flower.  I am growing it in a hydro bucket that I turned into a hydro-bubble hybrid.

(I know, the date is wrong….)  I took it today…

Here is the outdoor garden;

Nasturtium My tomato already grew about 18 inches tall.   I bent her over and planted the whole,stalk, I will get more tomatoes this way…gotta get the trellis’s up soon!!!

Flowering kale in foreground, nasturtium just in back, cucumbers at the back.

Swiss Chard, broccoli, a few weeds….

Sweet Potatoes are growing good now that the weather has warmed up.  These were planted in November!!